Directions307019P

Read this article. Then answer question X.

Race to the Klondikeby Lester David

Robert Henderson had searched for it all his life, all over the world. Now, in 1896, hecould hardly believe what he saw shining in the bottom of his miner’s pan.

Gold!

Henderson scrambled back to the nearest settlement in the remote Klondike region ofnorthwest Canada and staked a claim. He called the site Gold Bottom.

The Great Rush Begins

Henderson may have been the first to find gold. But soon, George WashingtonCarmack made a strike at nearby Rabbit Creek and found enough gold to make himwealthy.

The discoveries triggered history’s greatest gold rush. People caught gold fever, thenjoined what became known as the “great stampede.” There probably will never be anotherlike it.

Lure of Quick Riches

The stunning news of gold flashed across the United States and Canada. Men left theirhomes and families, lured northward by dreams of quick riches. Never mind that thejourney was dangerous, as was the Klondike itself.

Gold-seekers jammed ships from around the world. Thousands made the grueling triparound Cape Horn at the tip of South America and sailed up to the Gulf of Alaska.

An endless line of stampeders trudged over Alaska’s rugged Chilkoot Pass and thesomewhat easier White Pass. From Skagway and Dyea, in southeastern Alaska, theystruggled inland more than 30 miles, then had to build boats that would take them to thegoldfields near Dawson, more than 500 miles away. Today, a historic park and hiking trailmark the location of the Chilkoot Pass.

World’s Roughest Place

Skagway was dubbed “the roughest place in the world” by Canadian North WestMounted Police. Thieves, pickpockets, gamblers and swindlers packed the town.

Within days of the first gold find, the area was in chaos. Towns sprung up. In sixmonths, 500 new houses were built in Dawson, the Klondike’s capital. Food and suppliesbecame scarce, and prices shot sky high.

5

10

15

20

25

2

Sled dogs cost $350 each and soon were unavailable. Miners were lucky to buy tiredold horses. A breakfast of ham and eggs cost $10, enough in those days to buy a finedinner for eight back East.

Battling the Numbing Cold

With the risk of starvation increasing, Mounted Police ordered that every manheading for the trails must have a year’s supply of provisions. This meant each had tocarry hundreds of pounds of food and gear.

A gold-seeker who lacked a horse or sled would haul about 65 of pounds of supplies,set it down and go back for the rest. Then he’d have to dig out his first load from underthe drifting snow. He’d eventually walk more than 2,500 miles to get his gear over theChilkoot Pass.

Sometimes, the temperature plunged to 50 below, but the prospectors forged ahead.They huddled in caves during blizzards.

They Struck It Rich

Plenty of folks found pay dirt.

Louis Rhodes, a quiet, soft-spoken miner, recovered enough gold in just one year toenable him to live in luxury for the rest of his long life.

Charley Anderson did even better. A clever swindler convinced him to pay $800 for aclaim he said would be worth a fortune. Actually, it was considered to be a total dud. In afew months, though, Charley discovered his “worthless” claim was worth millions.

Then there was Alex McDonald, who took pity on a starving miner and traded a sackof flour for a claim neither thought was worth a cent. McDonald bought up several moreclaims like these and wound up with a bonanza of $20 million.

Historians estimate that more than 100,000 men, as well as a large number of women,set out to find Klondike gold. Between 30,000 and 40,000 eventually got there.

Just two months after the first strikes, about $5 million in gold was recovered. But by1899, three years after it had started, the great stampede was over. All the streams hadbeen claimed. People began leaving. Twenty years later, hastily built buildings were emptyand crumbling, and machinery was rusting in the streets and canyons.

By 1904, $100 million in gold had been wrested from the region. All that remainstoday is the memory of the last great rush for the elusive yellow metal.

30

35

40

45

50

55

3

Food

Bacon, 100 to 200 lbs.Flour, 400 lbs.Dried fruits, 75 to 100 lbs.Cornmeal, 50 lbs.Rice, 20 to 40 lbs.Coffee, 10 to 25 lbs.Tea, 5 to 10 lbs.Sugar, 25 to 100 lbs.Beans, 100 lbs.Condensed milk, 1 caseSalt, 10 to 15 lbs.Pepper, 1 lb.Rolled oats, 25 to 50 lbs.Potatoes, 25 to 100 lbs.Butter, 25 cansEvaporated meatsEvaporated vegetables

Equipment

StoveMiner’s panGranite bucketsTin cups and platesKnifes, forks and spoonsCoffee potPicksHandlesSawsChiselsHatchetShovelsDrawknifeCompassFrying panMatchesMedicines

Clothing

1 heavy mackinaw coat3 suits heavy underwear2 pairs heavy mackinaw trousers12 pairs heavy wool socks6 pairs heavy wool mittens2 heavy overshirts2 pairs rubber boots2 pairs heavy shoes6 heavy blankets2 rubber blankets4 towels2 pairs overalls1 suit of oil clothingAssorted summer clothing

A HEAVY LOADA gold prospector had to be well armed before heading into the Klondike. Harsh winters and scarce supplies made extra provisions valuable. Some miners carried up to 2,500 pounds of goods over the rugged trails. A typical year’s supply of goods a Klondike miner might have carried:

4

Directions307020P

Read this article. Then answer questions XX through XX.

All About the Klondyke Gold Minesby J. Armoy Knox and J. G. Pratt

“The man who wants the Yukon gold should know what he is going to tackle beforehe starts. If there is an easy part of the trip I haven’t struck it yet.

“Eight of us made the trip from Juneau to Dyea, 100 miles, on the little steam launchAlert. The steamer Mexico reached Dyea the same morning with 423 men. As she drew somuch water she had to stay about three miles off shore and land her passengers andfreight as best she might in more or less inaccessible places on the rocky shores. Then upcame the twenty-two foot tide and many poor fellows saw their entire outfits swept intothe sea.

“We camped the first night at Dyea. It is a most enjoyable thing, this making camp inthe snow. First you must shovel down from three to six feet to find a solid crust. Then youmust go out in the snow up to your neck to find branches with which to make a bed, andthen comes the hunt for a dead tree for firewood. Dinner is cooked on a small sheet-ironstove.

“Always keep an eye on the ‘grub,’especially the bacon, for the dogs arelike so many ravenous wolves, and it isnot considered just the proper thing tobe left without anything to eat in thisfrostbitten land. At night it is necessaryto tie up the sacks of bacon in the treesor build trestles1 for them. But to thetrip.

“The second day we went up Dyeacanon. It is only three miles long, butseems fully thirty. This is true of all distances in this country. About one hundred poundsis about all a man wants to pull in this canon, as the way is steep and the ice slippery. Socamps must be made short distances apart, as you have to go over the trail several times inbringing up your outfit. Remember an ordinary outfit weighs from 500 to 800 pounds,and some of them much more.

1trestles: a framework of horizontal and vertical bars used to raise something off the ground

5

10

15

20

25

5

“But the summit of Chilcoot Pass—that’s the place that puts the yellow fear into manya man’s heart. Some took one look at it, sold their outfits for what they would bring andturned back. This pass is over the ridge which skirts the coast. It is only about 1,200 feetfrom base to tip, but it is almost straight up and down—a sheer steep of snow and ice.There is a blizzard blowing there most of the time, and when it is at its height, no manmay cross. For days at a time the summit is impassable. An enterprising man namedBurns has rigged a windlass2 and cable there, and with this he hoists up some freight at acent a pound.”

2windlass: a machine used for hoisting or hauling

Map of the Yukon Gold Diggings

30

35

6

123070042

Both articles, “Race to the Klondike” and “All About the Klondyke Gold Mines,” discuss thechallenges faced during the Gold Rush. Compare the challenges portrayed in both articles.What were the causes of the challenges? What resulted from these challenges? Use details from both articles to support your answer. In your response, be sure to• discuss the challenges faced during the Gold Rush as portrayed in both articles• explain the causes of these challenges• explain the results of these challenges• use details from both articles to support your answer

Check your writing for correct spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.

7